Eagles Do Not Miss On Golden Opportunity

THE SPORTS COLUMN

September 3, 1989|By Larry Guest of The Sentinel Staff

JACKSONVILLE — In a team meeting on Friday night, while his lads were were digesting a late snack, the prophet Bobby Bowden dispensed a sermon about how to conduct yourself after falling behind the opposition. Avoid back-biting, he told his Florida State Seminoles. Encourage one another. Show character.

Could Bobby have known what was coming? Is his Ouija board that good? Three times on Saturday afternoon in the Gator Bowl, his favored and nationally ranked Seminoles were given the opportunity to practice what he had preached. The only problem, however, was that they had only 23 seconds to make it work on the third try.

''That's not time enough to show your character,'' Bowden said, managing a brave smile after his lofty Seminoles had become the latest victims of the Southern Miss Giant-Killers. Actually, the nickname is Golden Eagles, but here is a football program that should have a beanstalk as its logo. Over the years, they've slain dozens of big shots, feeding on those mystical Saturdays when the ranked and mighty - Alabama, Ole Miss, Auburn, et al - have fallen to the lightly regarded little school from Hattiesburg.

''This might be the biggest of them all,'' winning pitcher Brett Favre judged calmly at midfield as teammates were setting high-five and high-jump records. ''Judging from our celebration, maybe it was.''

Favre is a senior quarterback who on this day was as tough to stop as he is to pronounce. The son of a high school coach, Favre is a true field general in addition to a passer of sufficient skill to surpass Southern's all-time passing yardage. His 282 yards carved out of the rebuilt FSU defense pushed him to a USM career-high 3,817. But it was more by guile than spirals that Southern Miss tapped in the final nail to this coffin when the drama was squeezed to a pulp.

That must be what hurts the most as the Seminoles massage the painful bruise of yet another season-opening defeat. They are the ones who are supposed to saw a defense in half or pick the four of spades out of the deck and leave the other guys scratching their heads. The 'Noles are not accustomed to being the ones with egg on their chins.

Lots of plays decide football games, but if you have to have one, go to fourth-and-inches for Southern Miss at FSU's 9. The Seminoles led by two and there was 2:02 remaining in the game.

When the measurement was made, Southern Coach Curley Hallman didn't need a conference. ''No play, no count,'' he shouted to the assistant coach signaling plays. Out on the field, Favre nodded and ducked into the huddle to call the play, which simply calls for the quarterback to bark signals until the 25-second clock expires. If FSU's defense didn't jump, Southern would have taken the 5-yard delay penalty and tried what would have been a 31-yard field goal for the lead.

The latter was not an option Hallman preferred. His kicker, walk-on freshman Chuck Davis, played only one year of high school ball and spent the last two years after graduation as a member of a golf-course maintenance crew in Augusta, Ga. He had made good on all three extra-point attempts and a 22-yard field goal earlier, but now he would have been asked to beat No. 6 Florida State on national TV in the final two minutes of the first college football game he'd ever played in.

''I was nervous,'' Davis admitted.

He was spared the crucible by another freshman, FSU tackle Oliver Strickland, who took the bait and jumped on Favre's first ''hut.'' Favre: ''We knew they really like to rush hard, so we were going on fast counts. Later, we went on slower counts until we needed to draw them off again. It worked early in the game, and it worked late.''

Three plays after the penalty gave Southern not only the go-ahead touchdown on a deft, play-action pass by Favre, but, more importantly, wiped out all but those too-few 23 seconds.

''I guess I was too tensed up,'' said a dejected Strickland. ''I thought the center moved the ball, and they bobbed. I cost us the game.''

Not really. Maybe what cost the game was not enough Seminoles who were tensed up. Mickey Andrews, FSU's gifted defensive coach, sensed in midweek that his players were on cruise control. ''All the years I've been in football, I've been told you play like you practice,'' he said. ''Wednesday and Thursday, we didn't practice well enough to beat Southern Mississippi. And we didn't on Saturday.''